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Vortex company info

I went and compared some binoculars today, fully intending to stick with Swarovski SLC or EL binocs. I compared Swarovski SLC HD, Swarovski EL Swarovision, Leica Ultravid HD, and Vortex Razer HD binoculars. After looking through the binocs today my order of preference (this is me, I know everyone has their opinions and experiences) was 1. EL, 2. Razor, 3. SLC, 3. Ultravids. My dilemma is that I could buy the EL binoculars, but for the difference I dont know that they are worth $1,000-1,500 more than the Vortex binocs. I was wondering if anyone knew where the vortex razor binocs were made and what everyone thinks the longevity of the company is. I know vortex has a great warranty, but the warranty is not any good if the company is not in business anymore. Lastly do any of you know what the retail is supposed to be on the 2012 Razor HD's? Will it be similar to the 2011 models? Sorry for the long post, just want to make a good decision on this purchase.

The Razor HD is made in Japan by an OEM. Which one I don't know, but it doesn't really matter to me. The Razor HD is an excellent binocular that was designed by Vortex' engineers. Everybody has their preferences, but I really like the SLC HD better than the Swarovision due to the rolling ball effect while panning with the super flat-field Swarovision. All of these binoculars have excellent performance.

I don't know how long Vortex will be in business, but they so no signs of slowing down. I have a Razor HD spotter I really like. I am fully confident that Vortex will be around to have me covered for the forseeable future. Just look how many companies are trying to catch up to Vortex with their own "no fault" warranties. I have seen Zeiss, Bushnell, and Nikon have jumped on the bandwagon. Tough to lose business, I guess.

Like many companies, Vortex has products manufactured in Japan, Phillipines, and China. The OEMs in these countries can all produce products of very high quality, and very low quality. It depends on the specs from the ordering company.

Some very good optics are made in China, like some Zen Ray binoculars and the Nikon ED50 spotting scope.